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ANNECY-SEMNOZ, France — Chris Froome has two hands firmly on the Tour de France trophy. All that
remains is for the British rider to raise it above his head before cheering crowds today in
Paris.

The Team Sky rider retained his big race lead yesterday in the penultimate stage to ensure he
will become Britain’s second successive champion after Bradley Wiggins.

Only an accident or other freak mishap today on the largely ceremonial final ride to the
Champs-Elysees could stop Froome from winning the 100th Tour.

“It’s been an amazing journey for me,” Froome said. “The race has been a fight every single
day.

“This Tour really has had everything. It really has been a special edition.”

Froome, who was clearly superior and never looked really troubled in the three-week race,
finished third yesterday in a dramatic Stage 20 to the ski station of Annecy-Semnoz in the Alps
that decided the other podium placings.

Nairo Quintana from Colombia won the stage and moved up to second overall.

Joaquim Rodriguez from Spain rode in 18 seconds behind Quintana and moved up to third
overall.

Froome’s lead is more than five minutes over both of them.

He said only when he passed the sign showing two kilometers to go on the final steep uphill did
he allow himself to believe he’d won the Tour.

“It actually became quite hard to concentrate,” he said. “A very emotional feeling.”

Alberto Contador, who was second overall at the start of the day, struggled on that climb and
dropped off the podium.

Yesterday’s 78-mile trek was the last of four successive stages in the Alps and the final
significant obstacle Froome needed to overcome before today’s usually relaxed ride to the finish in
Paris. That 82-mile jaunt starts in Versailles.

Froome’s dominance at this Tour was such that this victory could very well be the first of
several. At 28, he is entering peak years for a bike racer. He proved at this Tour that he excels
both in climbs and time trials — skills essential for those who want to win cycling’s premier
race.

Froome first took the race lead, and the yellow jersey that goes with it, on in the eighth stage
when he won the climb to the Ax-3 Domaines ski station in the Pyrenees. Today, he will wear the
yellow jersey for the 13th straight day.

Quintana’s win also secured him the spotted jersey awarded to the rider who harvested the most
points on mountain climbs. He also retained the white jersey as the Tour’s best young rider. The
23-year-old wiped away tears in his news conference.

“It was fabulous,” he said after winning on his national independence day. “It’s a very special
day in Colombia. A big party and the whole of Colombia is celebrating.”